If you've ever forlornly appealed to a friend, colleague or barman for a specific phone charger, you know the pain of running out of juice at the wrong moment -- but the Huawei Ascend D1 Quad XL promises such concerns are a thing of the past.

Huawei claims its three concerns when developing the D1 Quad XL were the battery, the processor, and the display, all of which deliver "that little bit extra".

The D1 Quad XL is available in Europe from the end of October for €500 (£400), in black or white. UK prices are yet to be announced.

We caught up with the D1 Quad XL at its public debut at Teutonic technology trade show IFA in Berlin. While we had time to form a first impression, we need more time to test Huawei's ambitious battery claims -- and they really are ambitious.

Battery

Huawei has paid special attention to the battery. It's a constant source of annoyance to me -- and no doubt to you -- that phones can't last more than a day before it needs plugging in to top up the ol' battery juice. I'm glad to hear manufacturers addressing this concern as they build ever more powerful, ever more power-busting blowers.

In the D1 Quad XL, Battery Saving Technology software is designed to cut energy consumption by up to 30 per cent. And it helps that the D1 Quad XL boasts a monster 2,600mAh battery.

Huawei promises that'll give you 15 hours of talk time and a whopping 500 hours on standby: that's a shade shy of a fortnight, which is impressive -- bordering on implausible -- given that most phones can't last the day with Wi-Fi on, apps quietly pinging the web and pushing stuff down from the cloud. That's not to mention quad-core processors, GPS and 3G also draining the battery.

We'll definitely give the D1 Quad XL's claims a thorough test when we get to spend more time with the phone for our in-depth review. Two weeks of battery life would be wonderful, but frankly I'll settle for anything close to a weekend without charging.

The 4.5-inch screen impresses with crystal clarity.

Specs

Next in the Huawei trinity is the processor. A 1.2GHz K3V2 processor, integrated 16x GPU for graphics, and 1GB RAM keep things ticking over. The phone was quick and responsive enough during our brief time with it, but again we'd like to test it with multiple apps running, Wi-Fi and GPS going, and all the other whistles and bells that can stretch a processor in everyday use.

There's 8GB of storage for your music and movies, apps and games, with the option of whacking in a microSD card for up to 32GB of extra legroom.

Screen

Finally in the three pillars of Huawei wisdom, we come to the screen. I've saved the best for last: the large 4.5-inch high-definition IPS+ touchscreen makes an instant impression, with crystal-clear graphics.

Also on board is an 8-megapixel camera with dual LED flash and a backside-illuminated sensor inside. On the front is a 1.3-megapixel camera for video chat, which also shoots full 1080p high-definition video.

Outlook

The Huawei D1 Quad XL makes some pretty ambitious claims, so we can't wait to find out if the press release is writing cheques the battery can't cash. Aside from the battery, the screen is worth a look.

About The Author

Rich Trenholm is a senior editor at CNET where he covers everything from phones to bionic implants. Based in London since 2007, he has travelled the world seeking out the latest and best consumer technology for your enjoyment.